Hi Peter & All,
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward
Without going quite as far as calling it bunk, I think this work could have been far more credible had he simply stuck to Aboriginal star lore, rather than clutching at straws to give it some sort of scientific validity.
The crab supernova (now the crab nebula) is bizarrely not mentioned in any oral tradition, but the ancient Chinese had clear records of this impressive event. To suggest oral tradition is reliable in light of this glaring omission simply highlights the fallacy of Hamachers position.
P.S. Changed my mind.
It's bunk.
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I don't think I could have expressed it better nor more succinctly.
I worked with Duane for several years at Sydney Observatory (hails originally from Missouri, USA) and he is by no stretch of the imagination a dope. We know each other pretty well. I have followed his academic career and the objects of his and other's research in this field with some interest.
I have absolutely no doubt at all that Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders developed a a number of fairly sophisticated mythologies and story-books based on the night sky and the stars. Further, that they used the stars for predicting food and water source availability etc given the time of year, but that's pretty much where it ends.
I have seen elsewhere his assertions that aboriginals had developed a "stellar classification scheme" and from other peers to the effect that aboriginals had observed and knew many stars were doubles (binaries) based on naked-eye observations (this includes Alpha Centauri).
In fact the research shows in sum total this: A number of oral traditions recognise that some few stars were orange/red, that a few were yellowish but that most were white. That is not a stellar classification scheme. It is no different to standing by the side of a busy road and noticing that most cars are either white or silver but that some are painted other colours.
The findings in the book generally lack scientific rigour. One example: As Peter noted there is nothing in any aboriginal oral tradition or sky legend in relation to the supernovae of 185AD, 1006, 1054, and 1604 that all would have been very prominent sky events in the southern hemisphere. There are however oral traditions in relation to the eruption of Eta Carinae about 180 years ago which is a very recent event in context arguing powerfully for the unreliability of oral traditions past a few generations as a primary source of actual history. They are so very easy to artificially re-construct if the narrative demands it.
"A Priori " -- very much so.
Best,
L.